Property Record
626 N MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Lafayette County Courthouse |
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| Other Name: | Lafayette County Courthouse |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 16243 |
| Location (Address): | 626 N MAIN ST |
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| County: | Lafayette |
| City: | Darlington |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1905 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1976 |
| Historic Use: | courthouse |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Limestone |
| Architect: | FRANK W. KINNEY AND MENNO S. DETWEILER |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Lafayette County Courthouse |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 12/22/1978 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. ORNATE INTERIOR WITH IRON BALUSTRADES, MARBLE, IONIC COLUMNS, STAINED GLASS WINDOWS, AND CUPOLA OCULUS. THIS THREE-STORY, NEO-CLASSICAL INFLUENCED, RECTANGULAR COURTHOUSE STRUCTURE IS CONSTRUCTED OF BUFF LIMESTONE WITH RUSTICATED QUOINS ON AN ELEVATED FOUNDATION AND WITH A CLASSICAL BALUSTRADE AROUND THE TOP OF THE BUILDING THE ROOF IS HIPPED WITH A TALL STAGED CUPOLA THAT HAS SMALL IONIC COLUMNS FRAMING FOUR SIX OVER SIX WINDOWS ON THE FIRST LEVEL, LOUVERED PANELS ON THE SECOND OCTAGONAL SHAPED LEVEL AND AN OCTAGONAL ROOFED CUPOLA OF COPPER AT THE TOP. SETH THOMAS CLOCK FACES TOP EACH WINDOW. BROAD STAIRS LEAD TO THE IONIC DISTYLE INANTIS FRAMED, PROJECTING PEDIMENTED PORTICO LOCATED ON THE EAST OF THE STRUCTURE OVER THE ENTRANCE. IN THE INLABLATURE ABOVE THE ENTRANCE, THE WORDS "LAFAYETTE COUNTY COURTHOUSE" ARE INCISED INTO THE STONE. IN THE PEDIMENT, A RELIEF SCULPTURE OF MATHEW MURPHY, THE FINANCIAL BENEFACTOR OF THE COURTHOUSE, IS SURROUNDED BY CLASSICAL ORNAMENT. THE INTERIOR OF THE COURTHOUSE ORIGINALLY DECORATED BY O.J. OYEN OF LA CROSSE, WI, HAS MANY CLASSICAL DETAILS, STAINED GLASS, MARBLE AND TILE SURFACES, A LIGHT WELL THAT HAS BEEN EXCEPTIONALLY WELL PRESERVED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS. |
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| Bibliographic References: | CORNERSTONE. WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL 7/24/1994. A. BUILDING PLAQUE. B. LAFAYETTE CO. FILES, HISTORIC PRESERVATION DIVISION, STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WI. Take a Walk on Main Street: Historic Walking Tours in Wisconsin's Main Street Communities, Wisconsin Main Street Program, 1998. From Mining to Farm Fields to Ethnic Communities: Buildings and Landscapes of Southwestern Wisconsin. Ed. Anna Vemer Andrzejewski , Arnold R. Alanen and Sarah Fayen Scarlett for “Nature + City: Vernacular Buildings and Landscapes of the Upper Midwest,” 2012 Meeting of the Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF) in Madison, Wisconsin. Perrin, Richard W. E., Historic Wisconsin Architecture, First Revised Edition (Milwaukee, 1976). |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |